With Conway tapping out to the Figure 4 and Helms having about 90% of Conway's gimmick, is it time for Conway to get repackaged yet again?Funny how Austin's return also equaled the Family McMahon return, while his departure has allowed the Family McMahon to depart the screen as well.Bischoff has the power to book matches on SD now? And, what happened to the lecherous, sleazy Gold Club Bischoff that, for all of his other faults, had that redeeming quality?How many times can they go to the Cena/Angle well if you don't move the belt at some point? Except for a different corrupt ref, it's the same build-up that has occurred for the past few months.Shelton Benjamin escapes Siberia long enough to job, yet again, to Carlito.For the lead announcer, it seemed Styles had the least mic time.

What a pleasant suprise to turn on RAW and see Joey Frieking Styles! I thought he did okay, with the "temporary" crap Coach kept throwing his way, he kept his cool about most if it. Then he went a bit overboard during the Davari as an evil ref bit, but otherwise, his calling was, to quote him, "NICELY DONE".

I think Kane was trying to murder Murdoch with the Kendo stick, did you see that purple bruise not five minutes after he got hit? I like the KANE/TBS team, let them run over everbody and then break up and have a nice match at a future PPV.

Gregory Helms totally punking Rosey was worth the last six months of thier teaming. Now, let Rosey be a bad ass big mean Samoan, and turn him loose.

Angle playing the crowd was terrific.

And, from now on, the Raw drinking game is one shot/drink every time Mickey J has her crotch shown. Todays count, 8.

Just read the recap. Daivari, huh? Interesting. Did he come down to his old "ALEEYAALEEEYAAALEYA!" music?

And I wonder why they'd put him on RAW, when he could be utilized in the cruiserweight division. But for that matter, I wonder how they put him back on RAW-- was there a trade made, or are they simply gonna do it without explanation? Or did Long's "You can go to RAW, or you can go to HELL~!" thing apply to Daivari as well as Hassan?

Originally posted by ekedolphinJust read the recap. Daivari, huh? Interesting. Did he come down to his old "ALEEYAALEEEYAAALEYA!" music?

Aye aye. It came out of nowhere, total surprise. It was like a real live YTMND site.

Originally posted by ekedolphinAnd I wonder why they'd put him on RAW, when he could be utilized in the cruiserweight division.

Because UPN banned the character. OK, technically they banned Hassan, but I'm sure WWE doesn't want to test their patience.

Originally posted by ekedolphinBut for that matter, I wonder how they put him back on RAW-- was there a trade made, or are they simply gonna do it without explanation?

Kurt Angle wanted a special referee of his choice for the main event, he picked Daivari, that was that. It was one of those "We haven't seen him in a few weeks so he must automatically be a free agent!" kind of jumps. (Teddy Long's final promo against Hassan could be used to tie up this plot hole, but I doubt they had that in mind.)

I'm curious whether Daivari will resume the "You're all racists for thinking I'm WWE's cheap exploitation of the war on terror" gimmick right where Hassan left off. As a little guy who's regarded more as a valet than a wrestler, Daivari could simply be a basic chickenshit henchman without all the baggage that got WWE in trouble last time. I guess it'll depend on how much USA will put up with.

IF Angle and his wife are separated because of his work then he has his priorities all screwed up and I am sorry but sympathy is just not in me for that. You don't give upa wife you love for fans, now if your greedy and want the money you will but... Kinda goes against that Integrety thing huh?

As much as I like Joey Styles on commentary, it still sounds like Coach and Lawler are using their real voice, while Styles uses his high-pitched announcer voice. I can't believe they kept Coach on commentary....The one good thing to come out of the opening segment was the end of the Cabana....

Shelton v.s Carlito was good. If there was ever an example of WWE pushing a borderline-okay wrestler with good mic skills v.s a very good wrestler with no mic skills, this is it....The women's tag match was serviceable, and its nice of them to give Candice a signature move....I thought the backstage Show/Kane segment set-up some dissension that would happen later....Helms/Rosey match put an end to that short feud, eh?....

As much as I hated the tag title switch on Tuesday, I hated this match even more. Why have the best up-and-coming team on RAW jobbed two weeks in a row to a team that doesn't really even NEED belts to be over? This makes NO sense at all....The "You Suck" chants are just NOW getting to Angle?....Flair/Conway was just an excuse to set up the post match doings....

I don't get the bleepings. They didn't do it at all at the end, and even when they did do it at the beginning, Angle could still hear it. Wasn't that the point of his complaining?....Daivari was a surprise. It'll be interesting to see where they go with this.

I think, somewhere along the lines, the idea was Angle finds a reason - any reason - to walkout on the match in order to gain enough leverage to ensure a hand picked (and already flown/driven in) referee worked his match. That it was a plan of Angle's and not just a few random lucky events strung together could've been explained better.

Originally posted by tlmkr38IF Angle and his wife are separated because of his work then he has his priorities all screwed up and I am sorry but sympathy is just not in me for that. You don't give upa wife you love for fans, now if your greedy and want the money you will but... Kinda goes against that Integrety thing huh?

In that case 78% of the roster would have to retire after a couple years on the road. It's a risk that few families are able to withstand, but obviously, no one is going to say "my marriage isn't strong enough to make it, so I can't take this job" so they have to find out the hard way.

Of course this is in general. I'm not trying to imply anything specific about Kurt's life or what happened.

Other than that, I loved Joey Styles tonight, and I've always hated, HATED him in everything I've seen before tonight (I didn't see Taboo Tuesday). I'm sure he'll get more time in when once he settles in a bit and gets more comfortable, and I'm looking forward to it.

This was the first Raw in a couple months that I thoroughly enjoyed. No real bad performances in the matches, a couple new angles, a great promo from Kurt, and Joey Styles injecting some much-needed personality into the announce team. Thumbs enthusiastically up, for a change.